Virus
by Wafflegirl0304
Summary: Horror movies had always been something Nagisa enjoyed from time to time. But when the swimmer comes down with a bout of strange flu, he seems to be trapped in one of his own.
1. Fever

**hello friends! I'm back with my second Free! fanfic and this time it's multi-chaptered! c: and its kinda macabre too.**

**Again, Nagisa-centric, haha. I don't really know if any pairings will arise but mild Reigisa is hinted at. Please tell me how I did for this story and if I should continue it. Thank you very much! Please enjoy! :)**

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_The leaves under his bare feet crackled like sparks as he ran, ran, ran. His heart threatened to slam out of his ribcage, possibly explode with how fast it was beating._

_His breath came in short gasps through his mouth, sweat spreading like wildfire across his forehead, matting his blond hair to his skin. The trees that flanked him flew past in green and black blurs, obscured by darkness. He was terrified, and he didn't know why. It was like a horror movie. He loved to watch them, but being stuck in one wasn't nearly as fun, he soon realised._

_A root caught his foot and he fell over, falling face down onto the incredibly disgusting...forest floor, he decided. Panic surged through his veins as he hastily hauled himself up. He was about to break into a sprint again, to who knows where, when the sight in front of him caught his eye._

_His breath caught in his throat. Too breathless to scream. His heart froze up along with his mind._

_There was Makoto, hanging by his neck from the branch of the tree before him, eyes wide open, whites overpowering green, mouth parted slightly, his body striped with blood—_

Nagisa's scream could have woken the whole community. He sprang up in bed, heart hammering, sweating buckets, head pounding. Not a good way to wake up, especially if you'd gone through a couple days of fever, continuous aching, and threw up all you had for dinner just a few hours earlier.

The room was still dark, it was still night. Nagisa retreated into his sheets as if they would protect him from the cold. His face felt wet from both sweat and tears. This wasn't fun. His bed were soaked, he knew it. He clutched his blanket, unable to get Makoto's face out of his mind. Why had he had that dream? It terrified him, that was for sure. If this was what his brain defined as 'weird fever-induced dreams', he really didn't want to be sick anymore and have to dream these freaky things. Nagisa whimpered into his pillow, tears escaping out the corners of his eyes. _Stop crying. It was just a dream. Stop crying all the damn time._

When Nagisa next opened his eyes, the sky had flickered on, lit by the bright bulb in the sky. His heart had calmed down, but he had to fight to keep the nightmare out of his head. Body still feverish, he rolled out of bed and stumbled into the bathroom. The sink was cool, the water refreshing against his terribly flushed face. He studied himself in the mirror—eyes rimmed with red, pale, gross-looking, hair everywhere. He sneezed. "Ugh."

He peeled his shirt off his body and turned on the water, letting ice cold water hit his skin. He let the water run down his face and hair and shoulders, calming him in a way that hot chocolate and comforting hands couldn't. After that, he threw on some clothes and went downstairs.

The house was empty, and Nagisa was glad in a way. Nobody to hear him moan in pain, or laugh at him for screaming when the nightmares came, or fuss over him. His family had gone out to Osaka for a week, leaving Nagisa behind because...well, he was sick, but he was sure there were other reasons for it. At first Nagisa had been a little hurt, but after a couple of days, he didn't even care. He could be weak and sad and nobody would be the wiser.

He pulled out bread and water and forced it down before taking medicine for his fever and other stupid symptoms. Colds sucked. You couldn't really do anything to get better except rest a lot. Nagisa was sure the others were wondering why he hadn't planned some activity they could do as a group yet, seeing as the holidays had started last week. He wondered too, if they'd come visit him. He did want to pester them into coming just for fun, but he was too worn out.

Nagisa was about to crawl back into the warmth of his bed when the doorbell rang. He opened the door to see three familiar figures standing before him. Haruka, Rei and Makoto had come over.

Nagisa's gaze lingered for a little longer on Makoto's face, his dream flickering through his mind for a split second before he brushed it away and smiled at them. "Hi guys. What are you doing here?" As if he didn't already know.

Rei's violet gaze met his from behind red-framed lenses."We came over to see how you were. You didn't contact us for a couple of days, and that's quite rare for you."

"You sound sick," said Haruka with an unreadable expression washing over his features. Nagisa guessed it was concern.

"Are you okay?" Makoto frowned.

Nagisa dropped his gaze as a dizzy spell struck him. "I-I'm okay, Mako-chan," he replied, smiling again. His friends did care enough. "You don't have to worry about me. It's just a cold."

They didn't look convinced, but Nagisa was already pushing them forward. He sneezed. "So, uh, I don't think it's good for you guys to stay here. I'll just—"

"It's not good to stay home alone when you're sick, Nagisa," Rei said knowingly. "We can stay for a while,"

Makoto's wide eyes were haunting him now. Nagisa hid his fear.

"If you insist," he shrugged nonchalantly, and let them in. They moved up to Nagisa's bedroom, where they all sat on the ground near his bed. Nagisa pulled his hoodie around him tighter.

"How long have you been sick, Nagisa?" Haruka asked, hands on his lap.

Nagisa sniffed. "Um...about three days," he replied.

"Why didn't you tell us? We could have helped in your recovery," Rei asked, sounding a little offended. Nagisa smiled, feeling flames lick his heart. The good kind of warmth. Of course Rei-chan would say that.

"It's okay, really. I'm not lonely or anything. I can take care of myself." he said, watching the floor.

They talked about school for a bit and what else they could do after Nagisa got better. Nagisa kept glancing up at Makoto, like making sure he wasn't dead or anything. It felt so stupid, but he couldn't stop himself. But Makoto's eyes remained full of life, his smile warm and genuine. Time passed and his friends' voices dimmed to a murmur in the background, white noise. Nagisa leaned against Makoto's shoulder, listening as best as he could, but too tired to add to the conversation. He wasn't sure if they'd noticed him quietly fall asleep, effects of the medicine pulling him into darkness.

.

.

.

_—in an odd pattern, something he couldn't make out. He stepped back, the sound of cracking grass making him jump. It felt like an icicle had pierced his back, through his heart and completely encased it in ice, even though his body burned. The smell of blood was nauseating._

_Something shifted behind him. He whimpered, and tore off into the trees. What was he running from again? Who knew? All he knew was that he had to get away, fast. The trees cast shadows over his head, looming over him, reminding him of ghosts and shadows and everything else he had been afraid of years ago. His breath wouldn't come fast enough. He felt like he was going to faint._

_The shadows laughed all around him. His face was wet again, although he didn't even remember crying. Maybe it was Makoto's blood._

_"Nagi...gisa..." they whispered, and he slapped his hands over his ears as he ran, twisting wildly, trying to escape the voice. He couldn't answer._

_"...can't hi...for...ver." The voice was distorted, a broken playback, a scratched CD, a bad signal. He kept his head down, sweat falling like rain from his face, the ice spreading out over his lungs now. He felt something latch onto him._

_He stopped. Someone screamed—_

His cheek seared as he bolted upright again, heart thundering, hands shaking over his ears. The room was still light. Haruka, Makoto and Rei were crowded around him, blocking out the light the same way the trees had. Haruka was right in front of him, and by the way his cheek stung, he had probably slapped him or something. Nagisa involuntarily made a wailing noise, from fear, confusion and embarrassment. He lowered his hands and felt the floor to make sure it wasn't leaves. He stared at the wooden floorboards, chest heaving, sweating.

He felt cool hands grab his shoulders and nearly passed out from fright. The ice was melting now.

"Nagisa, look at me." Haruka's voice was firm, unshaking, but pleading. Nagisa slowly lifted his eyes, which felt raw from crying. He looked into Haruka's eyes, brilliant blue orbs. Not dark. Not forest. Not creepy.

"Are you okay now?" Haruka's voice was softer now, tender, treading carefully. Nagisa sucked in air and coughed. He couldn't find his voice, so he put his hands to his face, rubbing his tears away. Then he nodded.

Head hurting, he sat through more voices, but these belonged to his friends. Concerned, clearer, even the fact that they were quieter comforted Nagisa. Not broken, not glitched up, not messing with his head. Familiar. His friends moved about above him, talking in hushed voices. All for him.

Finally, he heard Rei agree to something and snapped back to reality at the sound of a door close. He heard the words "Don't leave me," push themselves out between his lips. The door paused in mid-close, and Makoto looked in. His sympathetic smile could have made Nagisa melt right there.

"Rei's going to keep you company, Nagisa. So don't worry, okay?"

The blond dazedly looked towards the taller boy beside him. Violet eyes looked back from behind red-framed spectacles.

"Nagisa...you really worried us." Rei pushed his glasses up habitually. The door shut. Nagisa flinched.

"Wh-What happened?" Oh, so now the words come.

Rei sighed. "You fell asleep on Makoto, but seconds later you began thrashing in your sleep. You mumbled some things like 'stop' and 'no', and covered your ears. And you were crying."

Nagisa's eyes dropped. "I'm...sorry." he said softly. He laughed dryly. "I must have looked pretty weird, huh?"

"Can't blame you...but what were you dreaming of?"

Nagisa felt blood drip onto his face and trickle down his cheek. Makoto's wide eyes again.

"I...can't remember," he lied. He hated lying to Rei, or anyone, but he didn't want to talk about this, and he didn't want to worry his friends. He was fine, and they had to get that.

Rei said something, but Nagisa didn't register it. He said something else about lunch and Nagisa didn't answer either as his head turned to a block of feathers and the floor spun. He shivered and looked up so he could focus on Rei's face. _Rei-chan is wearing a white polo shirt and dark blue bermudas. He is staring at me oddly, questioning. I think he's trying to get my attention._

"Oh, whoops, sorry Rei-chan!" he cried out. "I—You were talking to me and I just—"

"Nagisa, it's fine," replied Rei. His smile reached his eyes as he put a hand on Nagisa's shoulder. He shivered at the touch. "You're obviously a little disoriented from your dream, being sick and just waking up. It's alright."

Nagisa blinked, and smiled, his throat dry. "Thanks, Rei-chan,"

Pink dusted Rei's cheeks. "It's no problem, really. Now, do you want some lunch? I know you might not be too hungry, but you have to eat it to take your medicine."

Nagisa really thought he would throw up if he ate anything, but he decided to risk it for Rei. "Sure. Only a little," he said, taking Rei's hand and standing up, albeit a little shakily.

.

.

.

Nagisa poked the potatoes around his plate. He battled the urge to fall asleep. Rei had taken a while to cook up something, and while the blond had been really tired, he didn't want any chance of that nightmare coming back. So he'd remained at the table, his eyelids at war, until Rei slid a plate of chicken soup under his nose that wasn't really working anymore. Orange juice accompanied this, along with a plate of cubed potatoes.

"These foods will give you protein and boost your immune system," Rei had said knowingly, "and the chicken soup helps with your cold-like symptoms. Also, it'll warm you up."

"Thank you," Nagisa had sneezed as Rei sat down.

Nagisa lifted the glass of orange juice to his lips. It was smooth and cold, running down his burning throat. He couldn't really taste it, but screw that. This went down better than water.

He downed half the glass in one go and worked on his soup. After he had finally finished with his food, Rei supervised his medicine-taking. And then Nagisa went back to bed and buried himself under the sheets. Still, the cold had coated itself around his feet, not planning to leave anytime soon. At Rei's request, he took his temperature and handed the thermometer to him.

"It's going down, I think. 38.1 degrees Celsius."

"That's good...right?" Nagisa felt even more tired now.

"Yes, but it's still relatively high. I'm not sure what your temperature used to be, so it's hard to gauge. So you ought to rest." Rei's firm voice told him there was no arguing to be done. Nagisa didn't bother.

"Then...what will you do then?"

"Work on my holiday homework."

Nagisa turned away from Rei. He could breathe better now, and he did feel better after eating. The only thing he didn't want was the medicine to make him fall asleep. Then again, even without the medicine, his body was already weakened drastically. He would fall asleep any time.

The room was quiet, and Nagisa faded away.

.

.

.

_—and he realised the scream belonged to himself. He felt something wet and warm wrapped around his head, and he would rather it have been on his neck. He was still running, but the tentacle-like rope jerked, and somehow, he couldn't break it, and he fell hard onto the leaves and mud. The ground crackled like fireworks._

_He was being dragged back in the direction he had come from. He couldn't see who was holding him at the other end. It disappeared into murky black. The trees and the shadows danced over his body. The rope was right on his head, and he felt like it had stabbed him right through._

_He tried to pull it off, but it wouldn't budge. He got to his feet, weak, but still he was pulled along, helpless. The leaves hit his feet and drifted past them. He couldn't dig his heels in. His heart beat so fast it almost wasn't moving._

_"Let go of me!" he yelled, tugging frantically. He was going to die, he was going to die, he was going to die._

_The voice came back. He gasped. This time, it was crystal clear, too, like his friends', but loud and harsh._

_"Hazuki Nagisa!" it screamed. The pulling stopped abruptly, and he took this chance to try and escape but still to no avail. The climbing desperation in his heart wasn't doing much for his mind. He didn't dare to walk forward and try to find out who was holding this string._

_Turns out, he didn't have to._

_The creature was eerie, a black hooded figure. Like the Grim Reaper without his scythe. He was too far away to be able to distinguish the other's face, but he didn't even want to. The thing was using a tentacle from under a black sleeve, a sickly flesh coloured, octopus tentacle, and he could feel it around his brain. Beads of sweat spread across his forehead like wildfire. He stepped back slowly, feeling the tentacle tighten even more, constricting him, and suddenly his whole body broke into a series of spasms and he hit his head against the ground as the voice in his head laughed away—_


	2. Him

Nagisa felt cold hands grabbing his wrists, and snapped awake, chest heaving up and down. Pain stabbed his head, and he took a while to process what was before him. The room was dark.

He was somehow standing up in front of Rei, who was staring at him, violet eyes wide, his red glasses absent from his face. His blue hair was completely thrown out of place, cold sweat beading from underneath it. Something was in his hand. Nagisa blinked.

"Rei—"

He hadn't even begun to open his mouth before he felt his stomach flip over completely and whatever he'd eaten for lunch came down into a waiting plastic bag. The item in his hand fell. His throat burned again with vomit, and he barely had time to breathe between upchucks. When he stopped hurling, Nagisa stared at the bag for a while before looking up at Rei, who looked paler than the blond had ever seen, a different aura behind his purple gaze.

Nagisa felt guilty and confused. "What...happened?" he asked, vaguely remembering this question from a few hours earlier.

Rei seemed to back away the tiniest bit as Nagisa stood up shakily, but still reached out a hand to support him. He took the bag and sealed it with trembling hands.

"Y-You were..."

Nagisa's heart fluttered. Had he done something horrible? What if he'd been all mean when he was sick and didn't remember? "I was what, Rei?" he asked, more forcefully now. Rei's eyeballs would have broken out if his eyes got any wider.

He hesitated. "You were...sick. Hallucinating, I guess. You were screaming unintelligible things and a few curse words." But he wouldn't say any more.

Nagisa would have prodded on, but he was afraid to hear if there was anything else he had done. He saw the item he had been holding.

It was a plastic knife.

His knees buckled and he slid onto the ground, with Rei's arms hurrying to help him safely down. He put his hands to his face. At least the tentacle was gone. He wasn't held back by anything now.

"Rei, please tell me what I did," he breathed, closing his eyes.

Rei shifted, unseen. Ten thousand years passed. "You...tried to get out, and tried to stab me when I stopped you."

The hooded figure flashed before Nagisa's eyes. Maktoto's eyes bored into his head.

"I'm sorry," he whispered, and the tears came, hot and wet, flowing down his face in thick rivers. Rei sat down and wrapped his arms around him, and Nagisa scooted towards him and buried his face in Rei's clothes, crying and crying and he couldn't stop. Rei was mumbling things that Nagisa couldn't hear and didn't care for. He had tried to hurt Rei with a knife. Tried to _kill_ his best friend.

"Rei-chan, I'm so sorry," said Nagisa between choked sobs. He felt Rei stroke his hair, probably telling him it was alright. But how could it be alright? Nagisa had just tried to kill his friend, in his fricking sleep. He just couldn't believe it.

He was so, so scared.

At last Nagisa's tears slowed and he was back to feeling extremely lightheaded again. Rei broke away to look at his face. His expression was verging on upset, his eyebrows furrowed, teeth gritted quietly, like he didn't know what to say and was so frustrated by that. That made Nagisa want to cry again.

"Let's get you cleaned up and back to bed."

The next ten minutes Nagisa spent alone in the bathroom, standing in front of the mirror and splashing cold water on his face. He cleaned the majority of vomit from his mouth and cleaned the tear streaks away. He looked at the tiny water droplets hanging on his eyelashes, fever-ridden eyes themselves watery and redder than previously. The edge of the sink was ice on his hands. It reminded him of his heart in his dream, so he stopped touching it.

He shivered and pushed his fringe up his head, letting it fall back over his forehead. He frowned at his reflection and stared down into the pure while bowl of the sink, the ceiling light glistening against the shiny surface. His head was pounding. "Why am I even having these dreams? Who is that hooded guy? That tentacle was disgusting..."

He looked up at himself again—and sneezed with surprise.

Behind him stood the hooded figure, except that his face was visible now. Dark maroon, fleshy tentacles seemed to stream out from his back, slowly, reaching out all over the small bathroom. Nagisa stood stock-still, eyes wide, unbelieving.

The face given to the hooded figure belonged to himself. His bright eyes gleamed with malice, mouth stretched into a eerily wide smile. "What did you say about my tentacles?" he whispered, although his mouth didn't move. The voice was the same in his dream.

Nagisa whirled around, and the hooded figure, tentacles and all, was gone. There wasn't a single trace of him. He gasped and put his hands to his mouth, fingers of ice against feverish skin, heart going faster than his mind allowed. Nagisa whimpered and sank onto the floor, the cold tiles freezing his legs. He shut his eyes. Please, let this be a nightmare too.

"Nagisa? Let me in, Nagisa! Are you okay?"

_Rei-chan._

Nagisa breathed slowly. His body was aching but his heart was screaming. The corners of his eyes burned with oncoming tears. "J-Just a minute, Rei," he said shakily, pushing himself up to his feet. _Do I let him know about this?_

_He'll send you to a hospital, that's what he'll do. Where everything is white and sterile and even colder than it is now._

He opened the door to see Rei standing outside, sweat trickling down his temples. "I heard you mumbling. Are you okay?" Rei asked, gentler now.

Nagisa nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine," he said, and his knees promptly gave way again, losing to gravity. Rei took both his hands and caught him before he hit the ground. Nagisa let him drag him over to his bedroom.

His eyes widened when he saw his bed, and something clicked.

"Rei-chan, please, don't let me fall asleep again," Nagisa said quickly, trying to stand straight. Rei frowned.

"You're sick, you need—"

"Rei, I don't want to wake up again with a knife in my hand." He tightened his grip on his wrists, but it was still weak. _God, I'm pathetic. _"And—and I'm scared that this time, there'll be your blood on it."

Rei's face was unreadable. An uncomfortable silence hung in the air. "I won't let that happen, Nagisa. You'll get better before that happens. I promise," he said after a while.

"No!" Nagisa raised his voice. His face felt wet again, and his voice was shaking. Rei-chan, I'm not going to sleep, no matter what you say."

Rei looked flustered. He sighed and pulled the blond into his embrace again in an attempt to stop the tears. Nagisa choked his tears down. He felt ashamed for having to put Rei through all this. His friend ruffled his hair. "Alright. I'll do my best. But I know you'll fall asleep, no matter how hard I try. Come on, lie down."

Nagisa nodded mutely as Rei helped him onto his bed, pulling the blankets over him. He shifted so his position wouldn't allow him to fall asleep as Rei sat beside his bed.

"Rei-chan...what time is it?"

"About 9pm. You were out since after lunch."

"Oh,"

Nagisa thought of the tentacles again, holding his brain, controlling him, and he had to feel his hair to make sure nothing was there. "Rei-chan, I'm sorry," he said again.

"Don't worry about it," came the gentle whisper, and the squeeze of his hand.

Ten minutes passed and Nagisa had pulled himself up into a sitting position in the middle of the bed so there would be the least chance of falling asleep. His legs were hugged to his knees, the blanket draped over his trembling body.

"Nagisa, are you alright?"

"Y-Yeah," His voice was barely a whisper.

_Does it have to be so cold?_

"Rei-chan, I'm freezing," he said, sounding more whiny now than afraid. He glanced towards his friend, an idea spinning in his aching mind. "Can you...sit beside me?"

"...Sure." He felt Rei come up beside him on his bed to sit beside him. Nagisa felt automatically drawn towards his warmth and found himself leaning on the others' shoulder. There was no denying the fact that he was beyond exhausted, but he could not let himself fall asleep, no matter what. He didn't want to feel those tentacles, or see his freaky, evil copy smiling at him, or hear the distorted voices, and most of all, he didn't want to hurt Rei.

Whatever damned sickness this was, Nagisa was stronger.

.

.

.

—_taunting him, mocking him so badly. He felt naked, vulnerable, although his shirt was stuck to his chest and his shorts were on. He was being dragged across the leaves, his ass digging into the dirt below, his head numb with how tightly the tentacle was. Controlling him, controlling him, a puppet on a string, a pawn in a chess game._

_He was still desperately trying to yank the tentacles off, but nothing was working. The voices giggled around him, drifting through the air. So dizzy. Stop. He dug his heels into the mud and felt them make tiny trenches. He whimpered, tears streaming down his face, a baby, a big fat crybaby._

_Suddenly he was yanked backward, agony spiking in his forehead and around his skull, like he was wearing a crown of huge thorns. He fell back onto the ground, the dry leaves shrieking in his ears, the moon high in the sky and the trees zooming past above him. An instant of blinding pain, then his eyes flew open, staring into a pair of orbs that mirrored his oh-so-exactly. His double was smiling, cheerful. You could almost see the flowers over his dark hood. He saw the blood on his own hair. He jerked his body, but he was being held up by his wrists. The warm, sticky ropes tight around them had latched onto his skin. He could feel the suckers of the tentacles and shivered, sending more pain riding up the back of his head. His ankles were pulled taut like strings, he was stretched out like a star that was forced to shine._

_"Hazuki Nagisa," his double greeted with the voice that could have passed as his own—if you didn't listen for the frost lining each syllable. "Nice to meet you!"_

_He saw, the tentacles were spreading out from his back. A monster. Like Slenderman, but in shota version and short and with a face._

_Pain exploded from his back and he screamed, tears squeezed out of his shut eyes, his fingernails digging into his palms under his clenched fists. He opened his eyes again as something warm and wet and solid fell into his hand. He was standing beside a tree, the dark cloak over his body, his back on fire. The smell of metal rested heavily in the atmosphere. He didn't hesitate in looking up._

_Fresh blood was trickling down from under Haruka's dark hair, mixing with sweat and dripping from his chin. His muscled torso was striped with thick crimson, cut up, broken, and he was hanging, right there, right beside Makoto—_

Nagisa woke up to a face full of blue hair and rain pouring down all over him.

Rei was running, making his body jerk up and down, throwing his stomach into knots. He felt Rei's hot breath uncomfortably pumping past his ear as he flew across the sidewalk, his own heartbeat on Rei's back. Nagisa held on tighter as the rain seemed to fall harder and harder, his arms wrapped around Rei's neck. He shifted on Rei's arms.

"Don't worry"—pant—"Nagisa"—pant—"it's o"—pant—"kay," he gasped, picking up the pace.

Nagisa heard muffled yelling behind them and buried his face into Rei's neck. "I screwed up, didn't I?" he whispered, his eyes burning along with his throat. The pain behind his eyes throbbed, unceasing. His back hurt like hell. "I screwed up,"

Rei didn't say anything. He slowed down and were back at Nagisa's house. Once inside, both collapsed on the floor, letting the rainwater on their bodies soak the floorboards underneath them. Nagisa could hear Rei's ragged breaths, like flaming javelins stabbed into his chest. Why did he have to put Rei through all this? He had nothing to do with this...

Holy crap, what had he done?

Nagisa's stomach lurched, a sour taste rising in his oesophagus. Fighting to keep whatever he even had left down, he painfully dragged himself towards the kitchen and retched into the sink. It wasn't much, but it was just that. Nagisa quickly washed it away and ran his face under the tap. He was already soaking, it didn't make a difference.

He turned it off and slid down against the cabinets, closing his eyes and resting his head on his knees. Hot tears swirled behind his eyelids. Too much moving. Not enough sleeping. Not enough dreaming. No time.

He had fallen asleep after all, but he didn't seem to remember his dreams this time. He stared down between his legs where the water had glued his shorts to his thighs. He was shaking pretty badly, his body in flames, heart racing and racing. Nagisa couldn't even begin to think of the possible situations that had led to the one he'd woken up to. It was clear he had gotten out of the house, unconscious, on his way to what, kill someone?

Mako-chan?

Haru-chan?

_You didn't, you didn't, you did—_

Strong hands fumbled for his shoulders. Nagisa looked up too quickly and slammed his head into the cabinet door behind him, the sound reverberating in his skull as pain bloomed outwards from the bone. Rei was kneeling before him again, looking like he was on the verge of losing it. Did he reflect how Nagisa looked? Maybe.

"Nagisa, you didn't do anything wrong. Believe me." said Rei, his breath no longer compromised, although water still trickled down his left temple. The blond boy wasn't doing much better. It was like his lungs were getting smaller and smaller.

"Rei-chan, no!" he cried, grabbing Rei's wrists and pushing him away before he could react. Nagisa was not okay. Even if he hadn't did anything wrong, he had this gut feeling that he was going to—not a gut feeling, but a knowledge that had sprouted since the second nightmare he'd had. He scooted away from Rei across the tiles. "Just leave me alone!"

"Nagisa—"

"Rei, don't you _get it_? I'm going to hurt you if you keep coming closer!" Nagisa was screaming, but it sounded like a whisper. He hated how mean he sounded, especially because this was Rei. His Rei. His best friend. Crap. His face was burning from agitation and the steadily rising fever.

He buried his face in his hands again, warm water spilling down his arms, reminding him too much of the blood. He felt Rei wrap his arms around him, their soaking bodies pressed against each other, warm and cold at the same time. Nagisa coughed and sneezed and cried into Rei's shoulder, mumbling shit he shouldn't have been saying.

A sword pushed itself through his back, right through the middle of his spine. His eyes widened. He felt the tentacles break through his skin, moist and warm and waving about even though the cabinet door was right behind him.


End file.
